So yesterday in my down time before work I decided to look on "the list" to see if there were any fly rods for sale in the area... And I came across a listing for vintage rods for sale... There was a picture of 3 rods for sale... 2 vintage baitcaster setups and a fiberglass fly rod made by Herter's with some medalist knock off for a reel... "$20 for each rod and reel combo"

So I did a quit google search and learned that Herter's was what was basically a precursor to what is now Cabela's... Gander Mountain... Bass Pro Shops.. it was a mail order outdoors company based out of Waseca, MN... Turned retail outlet... Ran by what I have come to read as the very non-pc George Herter(I'm gonna have to read his books for sure)... It went bankrupt in 81... Hence why I was unfamiliar with it...

I also learned that Herter's was a company that had their rods made by what was then and is now high sought after companies such as Phillipson... True Temper... St Croix... etc... So I saw the pictures... I told the guy to look over a couple things for me and he said they were all in excellent condition... So one thing I had come to find... Or not really find was info on this rod... it was limited... making it either an unknown rod... or an unknown gem... Comes to find out it was a St Croix built rod... Probably around '71... According to this info right here... This is from another forum... Email reply from St Croix themselves...

Quote:

The oldest collection of St. Croix shop orders that I found began at 1971. At that time St. Croix had Herter's as a customer and I did find the RFSC6 and RFSC7 listed. The documents I examined were shop work orders and contained only specifications and a list of materials, as well as instructions for assembly; no volume nor monetary information was listed.

I also delved into St. Croix history and verified that we did make a 6' under our own label in the Imperial series at that time. Interestingly, a 7' was made up until 1970 and not again until 1976. It would seem strange that not a single, 7-foot, fly rod would be in the lineup for those years while we were making it for someone else but those years were hard and the business of rod manufacturing extremely competitive. St. Croix may have secured Herter's business by simply being the lowest bidder to stay busy and alive.

So after reading all that I was pumped... I was even more pumped to come across a fan of said rod and said he has a collection and owns 4 of them and "the 5th sold for $250 on the auction site"...

So needless to say I'm ecstatic.. This rod is clean... Looks like it was bought in '71... Fished couple times... Then left in the garage for 42 years... Now I'm releasing it from it's slumber and hoping it will get many years of use on the water that it so rightfully deserves.. It feels amazing in my hand... Can't wait to cast it... What a great find... The stars were definitely aligned for this one

Sorry with all the words... I know you really want pictures... So here they are...

Brushy rivers where you do not have room to use longer rods, these are the ideal fly rods. Rods for serious fly fishermen. Extremely light in weight yet no fish can break them in the hands of a competent fly rod fisherman. No fly rods in the world have the Mag-Power action built in the microscopic space nose cone glass threads. Special lightweight locking rings. Special neoprene rubber butt prevents damage to the rod in case or when setting rod down. Prevents slipping on clothing if you rest your rod on your body. With heavy wall fiber case. Shpg.wt.2 1/2 lbs

I was a regular Herters customer in my youth. I bought a Green River Knife (like the mountain men used in trade), all my chamois shirts that I wore in camp and my first fly tying kit...a Thompson A and assorted tools and materials. I was too young to read George's book on "How to Train your Wife" but I might have learned something. I did have an outdoor cook book of his though. The catalog was as thick as a phone book I recall and full of wisdom. Congratulations on your new/old rod.

I saw an ex-wife this morning who had come upon a thick cardboard tube of old rods of mine including a 2-pc. glass rod with spigot ferrule I had built on a Phillipson blank and a Frankenstein one piece rod in which I had epoxied a graphite tip of a 2-pc. rod into the slightly larger diameter of the butt half of an Orvis brown glass rod old enough to have Orvis written on it by hand. 1/2 glass 1/2 graphite and it fells pretty good too. George Herter would have been proud of me.

Also if you look on the last pic... there is residue from a sticker that used to be there... how can i safely remove that residue without hurting the blank or the print on the blank that some of the residue rests on... can i use Goo-Gone or should i just slowly work at it with warm water cloth?

The H&H classic is an excellent line and perfect for that rod in the DT.

When I was a kid. so much of my outdoor gear came from Herters.
Fly vise and tying materials, rod building stuff, archery stuff, down sleeping bag.
I'm pretty sure that my father had a Herter's fly rod... not that little one though.

I could see where the Herter's higher end bamboo rod might go for $250, but not a glass rod...no way. Even Philipsons don't go for that much.

The H&H classic is an excellent line and perfect for that rod in the DT.

When I was a kid. so much of my outdoor gear came from Herters.
Fly vise and tying materials, rod building stuff, archery stuff, down sleeping bag.
I'm pretty sure that my father had a Herter's fly rod... not that little one though.

I could see where the Herter's higher end bamboo rod might go for $250, but not a glass rod...no way. Even Philipsons don't go for that much.